Dollywood’s Big Bear Mountain: An Honest Review

Big Bear Mountain Review

For the last year or so, Dollywood has been hyping up its new and longest roller coaster, Big Bear Mountain. But is it worth the hype? Is it a good ride? We were able to ride Big Bear Mountain during one the passholder preview days and here’s what we thought.

Big Bear Mountain Stats

Before we get started with the review, here are the stats of Big Bear Mountain:

• Longest Coaster at Dollywood at 3,990 ft.
• Maximum Speed of 48 MPH
• Ride Duration of 99-104 Seconds
• 66 Feet at Highest Track Elevation
• 20 Passengers Per Train
• Minimum Height Requirement of 39 inches

Before Getting In Line

As you make your way to the queue, you are greeted by the sign for Big Bear Mountain and behind that is a big picture of a round blue circle where the picture was torn and a big black bear was behind the torn pieces. This makes for a perfect photo opt.

The Queue

Then you enter the queue. The queue line for Big Bear Mountain is quite long and you twist and turn though many wraps of lines before you finally make it to where you get on the ride. But luckily, there is a lot to look at in the queue. The queue itself bursts a few different tents you go though that are filled with different maps, gear, and signs that show all that is being used to find Big Bear. Another thing we liked about the queue is that just about the whole queue is shaded and filled with fans, which definitely helps during the summer months.

Big Bear Mountain Ride Vehicles

Then as you turn the final turn, you finally get to ride the ride. Big Bear Mountain can hold up to 20 passengers per train. And each seat can hold up to 2 people. The seats of Big Bear Mountain have lap bars and are very similar to Dollywood’s other family coaster, Firechaser Express.

Big Bear Mountain Riding experience

Now onto the ride. The ride itself was very smooth and felt faster than we thought it would be. There are quite a few tight twists and turns on this ride and it has a small dip at the end. There are no loops on this coaster. A problem we had though is that you couldn’t really hear the on-board audio of Ned Oakley over the sound of the ride. But the bear roar you could definitely hear, and it was quite cool. The intensity of Big Bear Mountain is comparable to Wildwood Grove’s other coaster, Dragonflier.

The height requirement for Big Bear Mountain is 39 inches. But is it a good coaster for kids? Well it just depends. If you have a kid that can’t get enough of fast rides, then this is the coaster for them. But if you have a kid that is more fearful of rides, then this might not be the coaster for them.

Is Big Bear Mountain A Good Ride?

So, is Big Bear Mountain a good ride? Well it is. We had a blast on the new coaster and are looking forward to riding it again in the future.

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